CASP9 and atherosclerosis: To further examine the role of miR-497 in the apoptosis of HUVECs, we used HUVECs treated by ox-LDL to simulate the state of endothelial cells during the development of atherosclerosis; these cells were then transfected with the miR-497 inhibitor.A caspase-9/3 activity assay showed that the miR-497 inhibitor could partially suppress the caspase-9/3 activation induced by ox-LDL (Fig 5B).